Public Mentions

7 art days, Nuo fotografijos iki šiaudo – žiūra į skirtingus menus parodoje „APžiūra“
Art News, Proginė grupinė paroda „APžiūra“ „AP galerijoje“ - artnews.lt
Lithuanian Artists' Association, Nuo fotografijos iki šiaudo –žiūra į skirtingus menus parodoje „APžiūra“
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An Unexpected Group of Ten Artists

The selection of ten artists showcased in “APžiūra” stands out for its unpredictability. The exhibition features award-winning creators, emerging talents, and lesser-known names in the visual arts scene. Among them are photographer Remigijus Treigys, sculptor Tadas Gutauskas, watercolorist Eugenijus Nalevaika, ceramicist Milena and film set designer Donatas Piršteliai, graphic artist Oksana Judakova, straw art creator Marija Liugienė, and painters Živilė Jasutytė, Mantas Daujotas, and Eglė Kontrimienė-Degutis.

The exhibition plays with the concepts of observation and perception, which acquire increasingly intricate connotations. At first glance, the artists differ in every aspect—discipline, generation, style, experience, and format. However, their works, displayed in a shared space, soon reveal a common existential sensibility, unified by fluid, graphic, minimalist forms and their recurring motifs.

This interdisciplinary perspective on art highlights similarities, encouraging reflections on the universality and communicative potential of artistic traditions, especially in an era dominated by visual manipulation.

On February 4, a celebratory exhibition titled “APžiūra” opens at the AP Gallery, located in the Jonas Mekas Passage. This exhibition is special as the gallery celebrates its eighth anniversary this month, offering a variety of events. The central theme of the exhibition reflects the core principle of all its activities—educating the wider public, fostering a curious and critical gaze on the multifaceted panorama of Lithuanian art.

Observations on Existence Amid the Transience of the World

Photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture, graphic art, watercolor, straw art—AP Gallery's exhibition reveals a true diversity of art, unified by the individual viewpoints of artists on the passage of human existence. Through everyday objects, the creators capture the delicate transformations of life and the world.

Whether abstraction or realistic landscapes, each element, brought to life through skillfully applied artistic techniques (light and shadow, dynamic movement, rhythmic compositional harmony) and visual paradoxes, deeply impacts emotions. It invites viewers into a manipulative game where slow introspection becomes crucial.

For instance, in Marija Liugienė’s hands, a flat straw transforms into a four-dimensional sculpture. Suspended in the air, it vividly conveys the perpetual motion and structural perfection of the infinite universe. Tadas Gutauskas’s bronze sculptures, modernly streamlined yet dynamically captured in movement, resonate with the ritualistic dances of Native American rock carvings or the drawings in the Nazca Desert. Meanwhile, Donatas Pirštelis’s large paper canvases depict fluid female figures that shine with a mysterious stained-glass light, enveloping the space in a veil reminiscent of an impending or retreating night.

In Eglė Kontrimienė’s abstractions, brushstroke waves mimic the growth or dissolution of cells under a microscope, echoing the seasonal rhythms of Oksana Judakova’s calendar marks. These Buddhist-like repetitions are mirrored in the visual language of Živilė Jasutytė’s and Mantas Daujotas’s canvases, which depict wind-blown grains of sand, frost, and streams of outdoor light and shadows.

Even architectural corners, pillars, and stairs in Remigijus Treigys’s small-format photographs or Milena Pirštelienė’s ceramic cubes seem imbued with life. Their dimly lit, emptiness-filled spaces reflect the restless human condition.

On Human Nature and the Psychology of Artistic Imagery

The visual works in AP Gallery's exhibition remind us of our innate ability to seek associative structures and beauty in the environment, capable of inspiring or calming us—for instance, the intertwining branches of trees, architectural lines, or the curves of the human body.

The human gaze, in its search for answers, is always directed outward. Everything—feelings, thoughts, actions—is born from and returns to the world, flowing, nourishing, and dissolving in an eternal cycle. Humanity and its creations are a perpetual simulation of nature’s artistry.

The art of the ten creators featured in “APžiūra” exudes an atmospheric quality, evoking the mystery of transience and impermanence. Their objects and forms drift in abstraction, silence, and distance, melting into the shadows of passing days and seasons. The techniques blur the boundaries between different art forms, revealing their universality. Graphic monotypes and photography echo painting; ceramics resemble graphic art, and so on. Even the realistic paintings by Mantas Daujotas and Živilė Jasutytė, with their unusual angles and chosen subjects, seem to replicate illusions—similar to the shrouded, misty mystery of Remigijus Treigys’s photographs.

In today’s image-saturated world, people tend to rush through observations and jump to conclusions. Yet in art, impressions have their progression, requiring time and attentiveness. Mysteries intrigue everyone, even the busiest among us—it’s an intrinsic part of our nature. Thus, the undefined quality of art as a psychological and visual manipulation compels viewers to pause, examine the details, and reflect on their emotions.

After all, creativity is, first and foremost, a language worth learning. This is particularly relevant in today’s world, where personal happiness increasingly depends on a conscious, critical, and cautious gaze at the environment and the images it offers. The ability not only to enjoy and rely on an immediate impression but also to observe, evaluate, and question.